Public Safety in Florida

Authorities have identified 51‑year‑old Russell Kot of Fort Lauderdale as the suspect in linked shootings that left six people dead at residences in Fort Lauderdale and Sarasota; Kot was found dead of an apparent self‑inflicted gunshot wound. Police named the victims as Fort Lauderdale’s Larisa Blyudaya, 46, and Ben Azivov, 18, and Sarasota’s Olga Greinert, 49; Florita Stolyar, 66; Anatoly Ioffe, 61; and Yaroslav Blyudoy, 39, and say Kot had been in a previous romantic relationship with Blyudaya — believed to be the link to the Sarasota victims — while preliminary HOA and Ring‑camera footage places Kot in the Sarasota neighborhood shortly before gunfire; his specific motive remains unclear and officials reported no documented prior mental‑health crises or history of violence.